Fact or Fiction: Inside the surprising true stories behind Aaron Sorkin's I Love Lucy movie

Before cameras even rolled on Being the Ricardos, fans of I Love Lucy were atwitter over what the film would get right about Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, and one of television's most influential and enduring properties.

In the end, Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos is far more accurate than many feared it might be (setting aside the one major thing that still rankles — casting a Spaniard as arguably the most famous Cuban in Hollywood).

There's a care and attention to detail, whether it's re-creating sets, costumes, or the particulars of Lucy and Desi's lives.

Being the Ricardos follows Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) across one very tumultuous week of production on I Love Lucy. The show's future — and their personal and professional relationships — are tested as a series of obstacles mount with dismaying urgency.

Here, we 'splain what Being the Ricardos gets right — and where the filmmakers took some dramatic license.

Timeline

The biggest change is the time frame. I Love Lucy's entire team faced their share of challenges over the course of six seasons, but not necessarily all at once.

All of the central issues that take place during this single week — the Red Scare, Desi's infidelity, Vivian Vance's frustrations, and Lucy's pregnancy — presented problems to the producers. But not all at the same time.

The episode

Lucy's brush with the Red Scare is the impetus for much of the storytelling here, and it bears noting that the episode in production in the film, "Fred and Ethel Fight," is not the episode they were filming the week of the actual scare.

That was "The Girls Go Into Business," in which Lucy and Ethel scheme to buy their favorite dress shop. "Fred and Ethel Fight" was a season 1 episode, while "The Girls Go Into Business" was from season 3.

Too Many Girls and the not-so-meet-cute

Ball and Arnaz did meet on the set of Too Many Girls at RKO. And it's true that he didn't recognize her when he first saw her outside of her costume for Dance, Girl, Dance, which had her trussed up as a burlesque performer.

Ball was already a star and contract player at RKO when they met, while Arnaz came with the Dance, Girl, Dance musical from Broadway. His number in the show largely introduced and popularized the conga in America.

Though they had a tumultuous relationship, it was love (or, at least, lust) at first sight between them — and they immediately ditched their respective fiancés for each other.

Desi's infidelity and Confidential magazine

Desi Arnaz was infamously unfaithful to Lucille Ball throughout the majority of their marriage (and it was the cause of their divorce in the end). Arnaz saw it as purely physical, while she, understandably, did not feel the same.

There was indeed a January 1955 Confidential magazine story with the headline, "Does Desi Really Love Lucy?" making much of Arnaz's flings with call girls. Confidential was a notorious tabloid throughout the '50s, frequently printing untruths (the rag was eventually brought down by legal suits from Dorothy Dandridge and Maureen O'Hara). But in this case, their salacious reporting was all too true.

Desi's business acumen

Throughout the film, Desi Arnaz is portrayed as a sharp businessman and innovative force in television history. That's 100 percent true. It was Arnaz, alongside cameraman Karl Freund, who conceived of the multi-cam set-up in front of a live audience that became the dominant form of producing television (especially sitcoms) until recent years.

When I Love Lucy was greenlit, it was common to broadcast live in New York City and then basically point a camera at a television, record the feed, and broadcast that dupe to the rest of the country. But the couple didn't want to leave Hollywood, and Arnaz knew his wife was best in front of a live audience, so he devised their system and shot on film, allowing for higher quality footage to reach the entire United States (and world). He not only ensured the success and future of I Love Lucy but also changed television forever.

As the president of Desilu and a producer until the early 1960s, he also helped shepherd some of early television's biggest hits and most influential properties to the small screen, including The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables. Ball brought the original Star Trek to television following his exit and their divorce.

William Frawley's alcoholism

Character actor Bill Frawley is depicted as a dissolute drunk in Being the Ricardos, a man who quips, "It's 10:15 somewhere" when Ball tells him it's 10 a.m. after he asks her to grab a drink. It's played for humor throughout much of the film, but the truth is fairly sobering.

Frawley's drinking was so well-known in Hollywood circles that CBS was reluctant to cast him on I Love Lucy. But Arnaz went to bat for him, making a deal that if he was late to work, showed up drunk, or was unable to perform more than once, that would be the end of it.

Frawley was a hard drinker, but he did uphold his part of the bargain, memorizing his lines and delivering stellar performances week in and week out. He and Arnaz became such good friends that when Frawley died in 1966, Arnaz took out a full-page ad in Hollywood trades that read, "Buenas noches, amigo."

Vivian Vance's frustration

Another point of contention in Being the Ricardos is Vivian Vance's desire to look younger and more appealing as Ethel Mertz. She tries to convince Ball to let her wear a flattering dress onscreen to no avail.

The film depicts the two women's close friendship but also the friction between them over this issue. Indeed, Ball was taken aback by Vance's vivacious beauty when Arnaz first hired her for the role, and she even reportedly ripped Vance's false eyelashes off once to prevent anyone from upstaging her.

Vance was actively frustrated by the fact that she was stuck playing a blowsy housewife opposite a man 22 years her senior. Her vocal complaints fed tension with Frawley more than anything. But she and Ball were close friends who continued to work together long after I Love Lucy ended.

The Red Scare

Much of Being the Ricardos focuses on the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation into Ball's politics in the early '50s. While she was ultimately cleared of the charges, accusations that she was a member of the Communist Party made for a stressful week of production on I Love Lucy, as the show's future hung in the balance of HUAC's probe.

The events occurred much as they're presented in the film — Ball really did first hear the news over the radio in Walter Winchell's Sunday evening report. But she wasn't in the middle of making love to Arnaz. He was playing cards in Del Mar and raced back to their ranch.

Ball had registered to vote as a communist in 1936 at the behest of, and in honor of, her socialist grandfather, Fred Hunt. She had previously met with HUAC and gave sealed testimony to that effect, explaining that she never actually intended to vote as a communist, nor did she. The matter seemed resolved until Winchell brought it to the table again.

The entire team spent the week rushing to clear Ball's name, fearing that the audience might boo her during the show's Friday night live taping. Arnaz came out to do his usual pre-show warm-up, as is depicted in the film, and made a speech affirming Ball's innocence, noting that given his history as a Cuban, he would never have chosen to mary a communist.

One great line that he delivered was left out of Sorkin's script. "And now, I want you to meet my favorite wife, my favorite redhead. In fact, that's the only thing red about her, and even that's not legitimate," he quipped as he introduced her, referencing Ball's famous dye job.

J. Edgar Hoover

In a strange twist for a movie at least somewhat about free speech, the deus ex machina is famously corrupt head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover himself. Arnaz calls Hoover during his pre-show warm-up, and it is Hoover who proclaims Ball's innocence to the entire studio audience.

Hoover was instrumental in clearing Ball's name as a fan of I Love Lucy and a friend of Arnaz, but he never made any public phone call announcements to a live audience, and his involvement remained strictly behind the scenes.

"Don't f--- with the Cuban"

Anyone watching Being the Ricardos might assume that a particularly colorful response from the head of Philip Morris was Sorkin having a bit of fun. But this moment is actually true!

During the second season of I Love Lucy, both Arnaz and Ball wanted to incorporate her pregnancy into the show, and they met heavy pushback from both network CBS and sponsor Philip Morris. So, Arnaz took his complaints straight to Philip Morris Chairman of the Board Alfred Lyons, reminding him of the show's value as the number one series on television.

Lyons did intervene, sending a note that read, "To whom it may concern: Don't f--- around with the Cuban! A. L." And he spelled the whole thing out.

Related content:

• Being the Ricardos review: Aaron Sorkin goes full inside-baseball in talky Lucille Ball biopic
• Nicole Kidman wanted to back out of playing Lucille Ball after Being the Ricardos backlash
• Aaron Sorkin shows a new side of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos teaser